


A Normal Kid Under the Mask

by marigold_scented_candles



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrino, Bad Puns, Bisexual Adrien, Concussions, Identity Reveal, M/M, Near Death Experiences, Nino being a concerned friend, adrinino - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-30
Updated: 2016-02-20
Packaged: 2018-05-17 04:25:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 5,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5854150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marigold_scented_candles/pseuds/marigold_scented_candles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Nino starts helping Alya film for the Ladyblog he ends up much closer to action than is really safe. So a certain black cat takes it upon himself to keep Nino from getting himself killed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Get Out the Way

Adrien swore that Akuma attacks were getting worse and worse lately. Maybe people's negative emotions were getting stronger, maybe Hawkmoth was getting better at choosing his victims, maybe his frustration was just making everything seem worse. He was missing more and more school to take care of the city, and at this rate it was only a matter of time before it started dragging his grades down. And Adrien knew that as soon as his grades dropped, his father would pull him out no questions asked. He’d loose what friends he’d managed to make, and he’d go back to constant loneliness and homeschooling.  
  
Of course, none of it was made any better by the fact that Nino had agreed to be Alya’s assistant admin for the Ladyblog. Now wherever an Akuma attack occurred, he could be sure that his best friend was on the front lines, filming and reporting his every move. Honestly, Adrien wouldn’t mind the cameras so much if Nino was a careful person. But Nino wasn’t a careful person. he was carefree, and excitable and curious, and he trusted Chat Noir to keep him safe while he filmed and fed Parisians appetite for Ladybug and Chat Noir.  
  
  
“ Look, I’m just a normal guy under this mask, and I can’t be in two places at once… You need to be careful Nino”  Chat Noir had made sure that Nino’s phone was off before he said a single word. Just in case he said something dumb, or something that gave the slightest clue as to who he was in real life.    
  
“How do you know my name?” Adrien hates the star struck look on Nino's face, because that’s his best friend. That’s the one person who treated him like a real person one hundred percent of the time, and not as a quasi-celebrity. He has to remind himself that Nino doesn’t see Adrien right now. He’s seeing Chat Noir, co-savoir of Paris and the boy that just got him out of the way of a falling pillar that could’ve crushed him like a flea.    
  
“ I look at the Ladyblog, and I ran around with you when the Horrificator was loose in your school. But that’s not the point “ The point is that Adrien can’t loose his best friend. Especially not because of his double life. When he’s Chat Noir he doesn’t have to worry about the expectations that Adrien faces on the daily. But he’d gladly give up that time if it meant that his best friend would be out of Hawkmoth's war path.  
  
“ The point is, I don’t want you to get hurt. You’re not a part of all… this. So if you could try to stay out of the way, it’d be load off my back ”  Chat Noir gestures vaguely at the blocked door, and keeps trying to ignore how a blush is creeping into Nino's cheeks.  
  
“You got it dude”  Again, Chat Noir has to ignore the breathy, dazed, near reverent tone of voice that he’s never heard out of Nino. What matters is getting the both of them out, not how jealous he is of himself, because he’s never seen Nino look so impressed. 


	2. Jealousy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Adrien gets jealous of himself.

 Dude, Chat Noir is the coolest” Adrien nearly rolls his eyes. Chat Noir is all Nino will talk about lately. Maybe it’s because he’s been doing so much reporting for the Ladyblog, but it’s still hard for Adrien to keep faking reactions to things he’s already seen as if he’s hearing it for the first time. Admittedly, Adrien didn’t have much to say himself, but he’d rather talk about video games, or really anything else besides his alter ego  
  
  
“ Why the sudden obsession with Chat Noir? He’s just a normal guy under a mask”   
  
“Dude…”  
  
“ Why’re you looking at me like that Nino?” The pause that comes before Nino’s next question is almost unbearable, and Adrien feels a flush that’s so uncharacteristic of him coming over his cheeks and nose. He’s a professional at covering up his discomfort, whether it be at home, in front of the camera, or at school when Chloe tries to pull a move on him. But right now all of that is out the window because damn it this silence is killing him.   
  
“Bro….Are you jealous?”  Of himself? Then Yes. Very, very jealous. It shouldn’t be possible for someone to be that jealous of someone who they were. But here he was, practically seething, because his best friend wouldn’t shut up about his alter ego. But how did he tell Nino that? Telling Nino that he was Chat Noir was completely off limits. But he wasn’t about to lie about how he was feeling either.   
  
“ It’s all you talk about these days”  Non answers are always the best way out. His childhood years of escaping boring fashion world parties have made him an expert at them. It’d be nice to know why Nino was suddenly obsessed with Chat Noir. E ~~xcept he already did know or at least somewhere deep down he _hoped_ he knew.~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More 2 am nonsense. I wrote this entire thing in advance so I wouldn't discontinue it.


	3. Give and Take

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Which Chat Noir is injured

“ Dude…? “ Damn it all. Chat Noir thought this alley would be deserted. But of course it wasn’t. After all, he’s Chat Noir, he is bad luck. Why would the universe throw him a bone and let him treat his wounds in peace? But he has to put on a brave face. Knowing Nino, he’s filming and Ladybug can’t know that her powers doesn’t do shit for his aches and pains. On the bright side, Chat Noir is pretty sure he has a bright future as a purramedic   
  
“ Hey there Spielberg” Chat Noir pushes himself to stand straight, because if Nino is filming, it’s being live streamed to the Ladyblog, and there is no way in hell that he’s letting his injuries become public information. Some Akuma would use it against him, or worse against Ladybug.   
  
“ The battle’s over y’know.  “ Well, at least the exciting part that people wanted to see was over. For him the battle wasn’t over until he was home, and safe from being grounded for sneaking out.   
  
“ I know. I mean, I did film the entire thing” Nino climbs down the fire escape that he’d been using to get a better vantage point. At least he was getting better at hiding during battles. Not to say that Chat didn’t occasionally have to bail him out of major trouble or rescue him from being held hostage. But at least there hadn’t been any near death experiences since the pillar incident.   
  
“ dude… you’re hurt” Oh hell no. His miraculous was going to run out if he stayed transformed for too much longer. He need to get home! Or at least somewhere more private, like this alley was supposed to be.   
  
“ I’m fine, really. Shouldn’t you be heading home anyways? Your parents must worry, with you being so close to the action all the time” Why couldn’t he just go away? Normally he loved Ninos company no matter how upset he was, but right now he just wanted to lick his wounds in peace, and maybe take a nice long walk alone before he snuck back into his home.   
  
“ My parents know where I am. Do yours?” Hah. As if he’d ever be allowed a minute unsupervised ever again if Gabriel Agreste had any inkling that his son was running around in a catsuit fighting crazed super villains.   
  
“ Of course not. I’ve got a secret identity to purrtect”   
  
“ That was just sad dude. “ Chat Noir pouted, crossing his arms over his chest with a huff. That was a damn clever play on words if he’d ever heard one.  All of his puns were clever.    
  
“ Look, I’ve got first aid stuff, just lemme help you out” No no he had to get out of here, he couldn’t afford to spend time having wounds treated by Nino when he could do it himself at home, where he wasn’t going to blow his cover. Honestly, it’d be better if he just jumped over Ninos head to the fire escape and ran, but he just couldn’t bring himself to be rude to his best friend. And plus, Chat Noir was a gentleman, especially to his fans.   
  
“ Very kind of you, but I’ve gotta bounce”    
  
“ Run and I tell the ladyblog that I found you hurt” damn it. Since when did Nino know how to run such a hard bargain?   
  
“ I can’t stay here long”   
  
“ Then us talking is wasting time dude. Just lemme patch you up, then you can get outta here” Ninos already got an arm around his shoulder, and he’s pushing him down to sit. Damn it all… He wasn’t going to be able to de-transform in peace was he?   
  
“ So where are you hurt exactly?”   
  
“ My ribs I think… “ Now that he thought about it, something probably broken. That was going to be a joy to cover up. Breathing was going to hurt for at least a month.   
  
“…. This is really dangerous for you, huh bro?” Nino’s hand is on his bell, and Adrien can’t help that color is coming into his cheeks. Was he having some kind of weird dream…? U ~~sually these kind of dreams involved His Lady.~~   
  
“ Black cats just have bad luck, that’s all” After all, Ladybug had never complained of getting a single injury during all their battles. Maybe she was protected by her luck in a way that Chat Noir wasn’t. Maybe her suit prevented every injury, and his only protected him from life threatening ones? He’d have to ask Plagg about it.   
  
“ Hey, so I’m gonna wrap your ribs. Is that cool?” was that what you did for broken ribs…? Probably. Yeah. it sounded about right anyways.  And now that Nino had managed to get his guard down, Chat Noir was aware of just how shitty he felt. He was battered and bruised and breathing sent odd pangs off in his torso, which thankfully enough was distracting him from the fact that Nino was pulling down the zipper on his catsuit, which would probably be one of the more embarrassing moments he’d ever experienced if he’d been fully present for it.   
  
But right now he’s too damn tired to be embarrassed, to even process that Nino is wrapping bandages firmly around his torso like he’s practiced for this moment, or that it actually feels nice. Which was something he’ll probably agonize over later.  
  
But he does notice his miraculous beeping. That means he only has 4 minutes to run like hell.   
  
“ What was that? Did the akuma come back or-?” Chat Noir shakes his head, snickering a little. Ah, if only there was a battle to fight. Then he could burn off some of the nervous energy that was starting to flow through him now that his ribs weren’t pressing on his lungs.   
  
“ No, that just means I’ve got my other life to attend to Spielberg” Now he jumps right over Nino’s head to the fire escape and makes himself scarce.


	4. A Force of Habit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Chat Noir becomes dependent.

These battles are getting worse and worse. There was no way of denying it now. Even Ladybug was coming out of battles with bumps and bruises, and Chat Noir had to rely on Nino to help patch up his wounds. Something that Ladybug would never approve of, but Chat Noir just couldn’t seem to say no when his best friend looked at him with such concern. 

As long as Nino didn’t know who he was it was alright, wasn’t it? 

Nino would just wait for him after battles in his room, first aid kit waiting on the bed for whenever Chat Noir deigned to come through window and let his cuts be cleaned. He knew it was dangerous to come here. Dangerous for him, dangerous for Nino, dangerous for Ladybug. He was running the risk of revealing his identity on accident, or of giving Nino too many clues as to the inner workings of his miraculous. 

And yet… 

Here he was. 

Letting Nino check up on how his ribs were healing, putting gauze on scrapes, wrapping up a sprained ankle, offering him something to eat and milk to drink. 

“Cats like milk right?” Adrien hasn’t had an actual cup of milk in years. He usually takes his coffee black ( much to Nino’s disgust), and his father had determined that he was too old to eat cereal for breakfast a few years back. 

“ Cats are actually lactose intolerant once they reach adulthood. But fortunately for you, I’m a person, and not lactose intolerant” Chat Noir smirks, and he drinks the whole glass in one go. Battle really does leave one thirsty. And plus, Nino is staring at his adam’s apple which was oddly flattering and sends a thrill of nervous energy that makes him less aware of how sore he is. 

“ Cat’s got your tongue?” Chat Noir wipes his mouth and smirks widely, nearly snickering at Nino’s reactions to his teasing. 

“ What? No dude, I was just wondering if you- Never mind” Nino puts a final bandaid on his shoulder and zips up his suit. 

“ Thanks for the milk Spielberg but I’ve gotta-“ Nino waves him off before he can even finish his sentence. 

“ Run. I know. See you later Chat Noir”

“ See you Nino” As much as he’d love to tell Nino who he was… There was something thrilling about interacting with him this way. There was something thrilling about being admired by Nino for the work he did for the City of Paris.


	5. Get Out the Way (reprise)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Chat Noir sacrifices himself yet again.

Chat Noir hadn’t been thinking when he lunged for the support beam that was about to crush his best friend. He was supposed to be helping Ladybug, catching up to her but Nino was in danger.  
  
  He couldn’t loose Nino, he couldn’t loose that smile, that arm around his shoulders, those jokes, the one person who realized that Adrien was sad, who understood him, who stood up for him. _‘ no no no no no no no no no no no anything but Nino, anything but **him’**  _  
  
“ Cataclysm!” As soon as his claws touch the beam he dives under it, shielding Nino from the crumbling pieces that were hurtling towards them. The last thing he hears is a sickening crack, except his vision goes black before he can figure out where it’d come from.


	6. Concussion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Chat Noir deals with the consequences of putting himself between his best friend and falling concrete.

Shit…  
  
He was in a bed…  
  
More specifically Nino’s bed.  
  
And his transformation was gone. Plagg was sleeping next to him on Nino’s pillow. ~~He probably should’ve realized earlier… it smelled like him~~  
  
**_Shit_ **  
  
“ I guess the cat’s outta the bag, huh?” Every sound hurts, but he owes Nino an explanation… He’d lied, after all.  
  
“I didn’t look dude” What? Why wouldn’t he look? Nino had rambled off all his theories about who Chat Noir was whenever Adrien was in the vicinity… Why wouldn’t he take the chance to find out?  
  
“ I… why not? “  
  
“ Felt wrong…”  wrong…? what was wrong with looking, considering he’d managed to drag Chat Noir all the way back to his home. And yet he still sounded guilty. Why in the world would he sound so guilty?  
  
“ You alright there Spielberg?” Adrien pushed himself to sit, and his vision is taken over by splotches of black. How is he going to explain this to his father? It’s surely been hours, and he doesn’t trust himself to walk on his own.  
  
“ Considering we just nearly died, yeah”    
  
“ Ah… Right…You’re not hurt, are you? “ his best friend had just nearly died. And he’d stopped that from happening.  
  
 And for once, Nino looks shaken by just how dangerous his ‘ work’ with the Ladyblog was become.    
  
“Are you seriously asking me that? You got knocked out bro!”  
  
“ well, I’m the super hero here -“  
  
“ yeah, but you’re a normal guy under that mask. you said so yourself”  Adrien can’t argue with that. He is a normal boy to Nino. A probably concussed boy that Nino didn’t know was his best friend.  
  
“ Oh! Nino, you didn’t say you had Adrien over.”  Today just wasn’t his lucky day, was it? Of course the first time he met Nino’s mother, he’d be concussed and barely able to walk across the room to shake her hand without black spots swimming. But at least his body was hiding Nino’s shocked and angry face.  
  
“It’s very nice to meet you m’am”  he’s going to faint. he’s sure of it.  
  
“ Oh goodness, no need to call me M’am sweetie, you’re making me feel old. If you two need anything before dinner just holler, alright?”  Adrien nodded. The idea of food is absolutely abhorrent at the moment, but he doesn’t want Nino’s mother to worry that her son’s model friend doesn’t eat enough and looks pale and unfocused, and if he agrees she’ll leave so he can explain to Nino exactly what’s happening, why he chose to lie to him, why even after Nino was treating his wounds, he insisted on being Chat Noir and not Adrien Agreste.  
  
As soon as the door closes and Nino’s mother’s footsteps fade Adrien knows there’s going to be a fight. He can’t handle a fight right now, he just can’t. his head is spinning, and all he wants is to close his eyes and sleep for a week to rest his tired, aching bones.  
  
“Adrien….” unfortunately, he has to face the music. This horrible, horrible music that’s going to destroy his bond with his best friend. Because he was a liar. A nasty, nasty liar.  
  
“ Adrien? Bro? Can you hear me?” Nino’s guiding him to the bed, sitting him down and getting him to lie down. It’s so bright…  
  
  
“ Do you need to go to the hospital?”  No no no no no he couldn’t go to the hospital! He’d never be Chat Noir again. He’d get pulled out of school and be locked in his room forever. He’d never see Ladybug again, he’d never see Nino again.  
  
“ No! I- …  I can hear you I’m just-“ Tired, nauseous, sensitive to light, his world was spinning and he could feel his body swaying in attempts to keep upright.  
  
“ I’m pretty sure I have a concussion….” God. What a mess this was. He couldn’t have  a concussion… He was going to be in front of flashing camera’s tomorrow for fuck’s sake! Maybe he could fake sick. Well, it wouldn’t really be faking sick, so much as not hiding his nausea… or he pretend he’d fallen down the stairs and hit his head so he could get checked out.  
  
“You _did_ get bitch slapped by a piece on concrete” So that was what that crack had been. It’d been his _skull_. He’d definitely have to fake falling down the stairs, and hope that he didn’t make anything worse. He didn’t want to have to miss school. If he missed school, he’d fall behind and fail, and get pulled out, he’d loose his friends, all the progress he’d made…    
  
“ I did.. didn’t I?”  
  
“Yeah…. I’ve never seen anyone drop that fast” Nino laughs, but Adrien can see it’s a veneer. He’s never seen Nino look scared like this before.  
  
“ Can’t say I remember hitting the ground….” For awhile they just sit in silence. Well Nino sits, Adrien takes the opportunity to close his eyes, even to drift off into sleep for what seemed like a few moments before jolting back awake. Sometimes he wakes to Nino’s fingers withdrawing from his cheeks, or from his hair, but those touches are so brief, so fleeting and gentle that he wonders if he just imagined them.  
  
“ Adrien. I’m not trying to run your life or anything like that but- “ Nino sighs softly, gripping his bubbles  
  
“ But you’ve gotta take care of yourself, y’hear? I’m not going to your funeral”  What he thinks is disappointment in Nino’s voice cuts like a knife. But Adrien knows he’s right. This time he bit off more than he could chew, and he’s lucky that he’s not being punished by his father for being Chat Noir behind his back, and lucky that he’s not dead.  
  
“ I will… I promise. And uh… Thanks for taking me here” if he’d been found in an alleyway he would’ve been taken straight to the police, and to the hospital, and he’d probably never be allowed out ever again.  
  
“ How did you get me here….?” Adrien knew he wasn’t that heavy, but Nino couldn’t have possibly gotten him here in five minutes all on his own…  
  
“ Ladybug…. once she saw you weren’t waking up, she helped me sneak you in while Alya distracted my mom…” Adrien nodded softly. Of course Ladybug had probably left as soon as he was on the bed… She wasn’t the type to linger. But she did trust Nino with his care… Why? Why wouldn’t she just take him to somewhere and look after him herself?  
  
She’d probably been worried about keeping her identity a secret from him. But clearly, she didn’t care if Nino figured him out. Or maybe she’d been the one to tell him not to look and had trusted him to follow through on that promise. Who knew…? Who cared?  
  
“she’s okay?”  He’d left her alone to finish off an akuma, and he didn’t care, because if he had helped her Nino would be dead right now and he couldn’t even imagine what he would’ve done to himself if that had happened.  
  
“ She’s ladybug… of course she’s okay” Of course. Because she could save everyone, and keep herself safe, all at the same time. She didn’t have to choose.  
  
“ Adrien just worry about yourself. You look like shit dude”  
  
“ Gee…. Thanks”  


	7. My First Kiss Went a Little Like This

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Adrien Agreste finally admits he's got the hots for his best friend.

Adrien does his best to stay awake, but he’s just so tired… By the time he opens his eyes it’s the middle of the night and Nino’s asleep in his arms. How was he going to explain his absence in the morning to his father?  
  
Or… Wait. Was his father even home? Or was he in some foreign country on business?  
  
He couldn’t remember. He hoped not.  
  
He’d be damned if he never ever got to see Nino’s sleeping face again. Maybe it’s because his head hurts and everything seems fuzzy and far away but this just feels so…. right. Nino is nice and warm, and he’s sorta cute when he sleeps, despite the snoring.  
  
Wait… Cute?  
  
Yeah. Cute. Who cared? Nino could be cute. C ~~ute enough to kiss~~  
  
~~Their lips were so close, he could do it right now if he really wanted to.~~  
  
Did he want to?  
  
Yes. Yes he did. He very very much did.  
  
“ Dude…? “ Nino didn’t have the right to sound like that. His voice was rough with drowsiness, and his eyes were warm and golden and capturing moonlight and streetlight. Why hadn’t he noticed how handsome Nino was before? Well. He had noticed. He just hadn’t focused on it because Nino was a friend and he liked Ladybug.  
  
“ Adrien….? Bro you’re super close to my face right now” Nino’s starting to sit up, but Adrien holds onto his shoulder and pulls him back to lay down.  
  
“ That was on purpose…” Adrien’s thoughts are scrambled, and words are a little hard to get out because he’s tired and he’s mixed up, but pressing his lips against Nino’s is easy enough. Terrifying, but easy. If Nino didn’t like it, he could always blame it on his concussion and being delirious, right? He could always apologize. Adrien knows he’s being a little too rough, but in his defense, both of them lack finesse. Their teeth click together a few times and they’re both holding onto each other way to tight, but who gives a shit, right? They both nearly died today. They needed this. They needed to feel alive, and they both needed to breathe once they finally, finally tore away from each other.  
  
“ Adrien…. Jesus… Careful of your head dude… “ Adrien blinked. His head? He hadn’t hit it again…. Sure, it hurt. But not worse than before.  
  
“ Go to bed…. we’ll talk in the morning ” Nino wanted him to sleep, clearly. But it was hard when he sounded like that.  
  
 “ No- I- we can talk now-“ Nino just smiles softly, nearly laughing in the dark, quiet wee hours of the morning.  
  
“ Nah. In the morning, when we can both think straight” To accent his statement, Nino lets out a heavy yawn.  
  
“But I never think straight. I think Bi”  
  
“ I can’t believe you”  Nino snickered, running a hand through his hair. Or rather, over his hair, since it wasn’t long enough  for running fingers through.  
  
“ Can’t believe what? That I kissed you?”  
  
“ No. I can’t believe the first thing out of your mouth after we kiss is a god damn pun”  
  
“ My puns are on point”  They are. His puns are clever, especially that one.  
  
“ Too early for this shit… Go to bed Adrien” Adrien plants another kiss onto Nino's cheek, and Nino closes his eyes. Apparently determined to pass out in Adrien’s arms again.  
  
“ Night Nino….”


	8. Explanations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Nino and Adrien do their best to sort themselves out.

When Adrien wakes up again, he’s never been more thankful that it’s raining. That means his photo shoot is cancelled, and a text from Nathalie confirms it. She also confirms that his father is out of the country until at least Tuesday, and she’s willing to cover for him during that time, but that she might be less kind about giving out such favors in the future. That also means he has plenty of time to talk to Nino about last night, and everything that it meant…. Or what it didn’t mean. Damn it… Had it been dumb to kiss him? Yeah, of course it’d been dumb, but Nino had kissed him back, right? That meant he was at least somewhat attracted to him… Right?

“ You shouldn’t be looking at bright lights dude” Oh… Nino was already up, and dressed, and showered. How hadn’t he noticed that he wasn’t in the bed? Adrien locked the screen on his phone, sitting up. Oh boy… His head felt marginally better, but the rest of his hurt like hell. His muscles were stiff and sore, and his lips are chapped from dehydration.

“ Sorry… I had to text home” Adrien does his best to smile. But the truth is he’s terrified. What if he fucked up?

“ Your pops is okay with the fact you slept here?” 

“… He’s not in France… What he doesn’t know can’t hurt him, right?” Actually that’s a lie. Gabriel Agreste has his way of finding things out. Even if Nathalie said that she’d cover for him. Whatever. He’d deal with that later. Right now he had to focus on possibly doing damage control because he’d kissed his best friend while concussed and practically delirious.

“ Lucky us… So you’re not gonna run off?” Adrien shook his head. Did Nino sound angry? No… not really. Adrien wasn’t sure what to call Nino’s voice right now. Tired maybe… They had been up late.  
  
“How’s your head dude? You were really … out of it, last night” Out of it….? But he remembered everything that’d happened. He’d passed out a bunch, and Nino and him had slept in the same bed, and they’d made out, and Nino promised they’d ‘ talk about it’ in the morning.

“ I feel okay. I’m not nauseous anymore...Uh…Nino? “ That being said it’d probably be good if he was careful. Just for now. He didn’t want to risk permanent damage if he could help it.

“Yeah dude?” He had to get this out of the way. He couldn’t deal with the uncertainty weighing in his chest like a boulder. This teetering on the edge of rejection and acceptance is torture.

“ What’s last night make us?”

“ … You remember that” Did Nino sound scared of that possibility?  
  
“ Yeah… I’m concussed, not an amnesiac” Thank god for that. It would’ve been incredibly difficult to explain if he’d actually forgotten who he was.

“ Look, you seemed really… Not yourself. That’s all” It's true enough. Had his thoughts not been scrambled, he definitely wouldn't have been brave enough to admit that he'd wanted to kiss Nino for awhile. 

“ How so?”

“ Adrien, you’d never kiss me”

“ I did last night… “

“Yeah, you did. Bit my lip too.” Adrien has the decency to look sheepish, but really… now he can’t stop looking at the little cut he left on his friend’s lip. ~~mostly because it was hot as hell~~

“ sorry…. too rough?” 

“ Nah… Just… didn’t take you as that type I guess”

“ What’s that mean? “ Was he the type to be rough…? Honestly he didn’t know. He’d never thought about how he’d be with a lover. Of course, he didn’t want to really hurt anyone… That’d be rude. But… ~~something about imagining little hickeys on Nino’s neck made his cheeks flush pink.~~

“ I didn’t take you as the type who kissed boys Agreste”

“ So…. Are you?” Please please please be _‘ that type’_ … If Nino wasn’t Adrien was probably going to die right there of embarrassment.

“ Am I what?”

“ The type to kiss boys…” Dumb dumb dumb. What a dumb mistake he’d made.

“ I…. hadn’t really considered it… Guess I was wrong though. Gotta give it to you bro, you’re actually are kinda hot” Why wasn’t Nino actually answering the question…? Well, he had sort of answered. He’d confirmed that he found Adrien attractive too. But he hadn’t touched on what exactly admitting that attraction meant for the two of them.

“ … So it’s okay that we kissed?”

“ More like sucked face bro… You seriously lack skills man” Adrien pouted. How was he supposed to have finesse? It was his first kiss. And Nino was still avoiding the question, which was bordering on infuriating.

“ Not like I’ve had anyone to gain skills with” Damn it. Nino is driving him off the subject, but… maybe he just doesn’t know the answer to the question yet. Maybe he’s trying to buy himself time. Yeah. That could be it.

“ Wait… That was your first kiss?” Why does he looked so shocked by that? Especially after having commenting on his lack of skills in said department.

“ Exactly who would I have kissed as a home schooled kid with no friends?”

“Touché” Has Nino been getting closer to him this entire conversation…? Because now their legs are brushing against each other, and Nino’s hand feels warm, sweaty and nervous against his cheek.

“ Lemme teach you how it’s done dude.” Quicker than Adrien can retort Nino’s lips are on his again and again and again. Somehow by the time they separate long enough to comprehend anything Adrien has Nino pinned up against the wall, Nino has his hands tangled in his hair, and they’re both out of breath.

“ Nino, you never answered me”

“ Answered what?” Nino’s already leaning in closer, but Adrien is damn determined to get an answer.

“ What’s this make us…?” Have these kisses made them somehow not friends? Was he going to regret not simply apologizing and blaming his advances on head trauma? 

“ Best friends who kiss?”

“ Good enough for me” Neither of them had that much time for dating. Adrien wasn’t usually allowed out of the house unless it was for modeling or school… But. Best friends who kissed. That sounded nice. No unresolved sexual tension hanging around, and he didn’t have to stumble around trying to learn how to be Nino’s boyfriend. They could just be what they always had been. _Friends_. But now they could kiss, and it wouldn't be weird. Yes. Best friends who kissed was probably the best label for them at the moment. 


End file.
